It's September so the Fledgings Fly, as we wave our clutter bye bye

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

Welcome to the ongoing Fledgling Flyers thread for September, thanks to Bitchy who kept us posted through August.

Right, most of you should know how this works. It's a three pronged attack.
Phase one: The babysteps master these and you will be working like clockwork.
Phase two: Adding in Decluttering this will help you keep on top of the amount of stuff contributing to CHAOS.
Phase three: Missions Targeted activities to keep the chaos at bay and starting the deep cleaning.

The golden duster of Flying is stage 4: deep cleaning. This is for most me anyway, somewhat unrealistic and in theory you don't need to worry about it until you have finished decluttering that's never then. Just do it if you want to.

Now for those of you who are completely lost, lets rewind a bit.
CHAOS: Can't have anyone over syndrome. We've all been there

The fly lady approach works by breaking the house down into tiny activities which you do repeatedly until they become habit and don't feel like chores any more. The house is split into zones, each zone is tackled for a week before moving on and comes round again at the start of the next month.

There are lots of experienced Fledglings on here, hence lots of advice and support and chat about anything except housework some days. the main thing is that you can post any time you like even if you haven't lifted a finger around the house that day because with Flylady you just pick up again the next day and off you go again.

We advise against signing up for Flylady emails as they can lead to a great deal of clutter in the Inbox, each days steps will be posted on this thread to save you having to find them yourself.

In the meantime here is a link to the Flylady website for anyone who would like a browse.

Getting started Remember - don't subscribe to the emails!

?Swish and swipe? is one of the habits I?ve actually absorbed! It?s a good one.
I forgot to say I have my front curtains back up, and nets. (well, equivalents)

Still to do
Call Dr, and storage lot, TFL, chase up whereabouts of psychology book.
Try and get to, and look out material for blinds.
Catch up H/e file (still!)
Shopping
Get D/S to lecture with all needed equipment
Psychology prep

Ellie Your list was scary!

Eyes can I ask what the bags are for? (nosey)

Chitchat I love the ?some writing?.

Bitchy I?ve got the ruddy throat thing too, it wont shift and my voice keeps going. Good luck fending it off.

Rowing thanks for the tip, and Toffee for confirmation.

Toffee I?m afraid I can believe you?re still poorly, and am glad to hear you?re going to see consultant. I hope s/he can sort you out.

Mymum well done, keep going!

Madwoman I?m not an ironing fan, but I iron on a half board on my lap and periodically schorch my legs so that?s my excuse. My dream is a phone headset so I can listen to friend and kill two birds with one stone.

PMPY I?m only sorry they?re only virtual ones. Hope the plastering goes well.

SC You are not deranged for rescuing terrified creatures. (you may be deranged for having a DH and not making him do it mind!)
Please sign up to serious art course, and then tell us all about it? You know you want to?
(not that I?d give so much to be doing that that I?m prepared to live vicariously. )

Swan very good luck with appointment (sorry I didn?t get why you were seeing them now, before)
(Don?t know if it helps but my answer to the same difficulty was to compare and contrast to playground incidents as a way of trying to get d/s to recognise there is more than one perception of a story, and different people believe different things, then relate it back to history)

Madwoman another here with too many clothes, waiting for smaller people to grow into them, or convert them into ?new? stuff. Hmm...

Dizzy and Trazzle hope you get heating and machine fixed without trauma.

Lauren excellent weekend!

Phew! Waves to anyone I've missed.

Hi everyone

Just back from a long weekend in the UK for my sister's hen do. Have eaten so much food I am afraid to weigh myself.

My parents house is so filthy, DM obviously hasn't hasn't looked at the Flylady book I gave her

Nice to be back

late lunch break

[offers lemon juice and honey to all of those with painful throats]

Justgettingonwithit Unbelievably I managed to scorch a nork once when ironing whilst pregnant Apologies for that less than lovely image if you are eating lunch!!! Congrats re: curtains!!!!

[Sends cyber calming tot of whisky to Toffee for swigging in back of cab on way home from hospital]

Welcome back Engels Hope you and your sister had a fab time

at your country show Lauren (best we could manage yesterday was a visit to a city communal garden where local choir was singing. Would have been good but we drove around and around in circles for so long trying to find the entrance that we missed the performance altogether ) Many congratulations on your godmothership!!

Hope the central heating gets fixed soon Dizzy looks like the weather is changing fast. Mahoosively wet and windy here too Rowingboat

SwanGood luck with SENCO appt this pm!!
V. impressed by the way you re-organise your clothes every season and well done re: under the bed dusting. I think your dd and mine have twin characters. Mine is always "too tired" to go to church or anywhere else she considers boring and then promptly complains of being bored at home. And oh how I recognise the relief in the "I can get down to some more decluttering/sorting, rather than superficial tidying malarkey". I always love it when the cleaning lady cancels ... but then I don't do the decluttering either

swan/justgettingonwithit thanks for encouragement re: art course - much appreciated. (It is actual painting - not theory.) Quite a big commitment but still not entirely sure how many hours required weekly (8-10 hrs or 16 hrs minimum - won't sign up if latter and still uncertain if former)so going to gird my loins and go back and ask tonight. Problem is, aside from time commitment, I seem to have lost all confidence recently; since working (not many hours) at home and not as much in office. Suddenly seized with panic about it all for some bewildering reason ...

Tally-ho everyone!

Thanks Toffee. Tbh I would looooove a cleaner but can't afford one. DH used to spend Sunday evenings ironing (he told me off for not doing a good job once do I pointed out he could do it himself) but once DS came along he decided he would rather have family time/relax hence the ironing lady. She's do lovely and even collects and delivers so I don't have to fade about making sure the shirts don't get creased on the way home! One day I may start ironing the rest of our clothes who am I trying to kid?

Afternoon everyone sorry I never do personals, i usually post on iPad or phone and can't keep up! However I hope everyone is well and this poorly are on the mend. Weather wet here, no drying clothes outside although I have put the heating on I feel in desperate need of a window or two being open.

Feeling strangely virtuous today. We have two crisis rooms, one upstairs and one downstairs which are where the stuff goes, but we are intending on a great deal of DIY work before Christmas so everything has an eventual home.

I have tackled various things today with DD's 'help' including sorting out all of her toys, now I have a much better idea of what might be nice for Christmas and what she has outgrown. I have also.....drumroll please..... Cleaned the tv. Doesn't sound like much but ye gods it was dirty.

-Dry clothes have been put away,

• double bed changed,
• White wash on and hung up,
• bathroom s&s,
• wash up from last nights roast
• dusted family room
• toys done
• tv cleaned
• biscuits procured for afternoon tea with friend whose children are DD's age and a year younger and she badly needs some tea and cake!

Now sitting in clean, tidy and dusted family room with hot cup of tea while DD has a nice long nap. If only every day was this productive.

Oh good God a live mouse has just poked its head out from under DS' table in the playroom . Am sure Trazzlecats have kindly brought it in and then neglected to kill it sigh. I hate dead mice but it turns out live ones are much worse. The only saving grace is that it isn't a giant spider.

Hi all!

like my new look???? Did kickboxing today and it didn?t hurt!!!! Yippee!!!! So thought I?d be less ?chatty? for awhile in honour of actually ENJOYING the class.

Tada:
Load of wash into dryer, out and folded
Load of wash into washing machine
Breakfast with DSs
School/nursery run
Kickboxing
Load of wash into dryer
Lunch with friend
Nursery/school pick up
Confirm DH?s medical tests with insurers

Where did the day go??????
To do:
Finish dinner for DSs
Read with DS1
Bedtime routine for DSs
Put away folded clothes
Iron remaining clothes and put away
Tidy kitchen after cooking

It's a gift for you.

I have spent many an afternoon playing with such gifts.

We no longer have cats.

Good luck!

@ madwoman
Good luck catching your new toy trazzletoes

Toffee - we were taught to do evaluation of evidence a uniquw way. We had some sources for lindow man and sutton who and we had to say what we thought they had found, how lindow man had been killed (limited drip feeding of information etc) and once we had been worked through it we were given the original evidence from the Southdowns find that turn out to be a fake and had to say what we thought the site showed. It was a pulling together of facts. And showing you have to compare and get many sources etc. I am sure Ellie might be able to explain a bit more what I mean but the way it was taught really stuck in my mind I will see if I get chance to look out the books we used. They were soucre books. And the fact that we were dectectives rather then learning about history might appeal. Eg ds how would we prove the age of this? carbon dating, other finds etc rather then what we know about this might not be true. iyswim?

Been in a meeting all day. How my mother survived us growing up with a total of about 8 different instruments between me and my sibblings I don't know. She must have had the patience of a saint! ignores fact it was bitchy's idea to let ds have the guitar

Hi all,
I do have a list which is getting towards finished
Putting it on so I can see what is left to do
Recyclingx
Swish and swipe kitchen x
Swish and swipe bathroom x
Phone to book room for party
5 minute room rescues sitting room dust tv and things clean up stoopid geranium blossoms from below window
15 minute decluttering 7 toysx
7 clothesx
Charity bag into car x
Summer clothes awayx
Floor spray and wipedx
Sweepstakes
Hotspot kitchen table almost there
Bank cheque
Library books back
Tax credits update
Move money from PayPal
Hoover sitting hall
Find place to take lps or dump
Hang washing
Practice guitar
Tiny bit of party planning

Bitchy how long has your ds been doing guitar? Mine just started and I was a bit worries about the difficulty of the instrument. He has hands like mine:short fingers! He does seem to like it though! How's the throat?
Toffee nice tutor, driving you around in the rain! Did you say you saw a mouse. Sorry having difficulty reading back over the thread, I think it was you.
Do you have a cat or possibility of borrowing one?

Sorry realise it was frazzle with the mouse AND cat! Sorry got all confused! Easily done for me!

Rowing he has just started nails aren't so much of a problem as you can get picks to help with it. Reach around the neck can be an issue if you get fullsize one for a child. But ds is using my 3/4 size so it's not too bad. Just it has had new strings and they aren't holding their tuning yet which doesn't help the sound quality I think i should be glad he wants to practice?

Oh I cba today. Someone give me a kick up the arse...

MrsOn one of bitchy's double strenght ones

Er, thanks Bitchy

I feel terrible really sleepy and just can't be bothered with anything! I forced myself to walk the school run instead of drive though despite the weather, and I've done a home bleurgh...

I've ordered a Chinese and will be in bed as soon as I've eaten it, I'll hopefully be back tomorrow with more energy!

Evening all,

Ta-da!

Morning routine, school run etc
Dinner in slow cooker
Clean kitchen floor
Clean toilet
Off to town for shopping / haircut / bag of stuff to charity shop
Off to bigger town for a mini MN meet-up / lunch
Back to get DCs from school
Dinner, packed lunches etc made
Plumber called, bloody heating's packed up again
Cleaned out salad drawer of fridge

Made arrangements for weekend (DH helpfully came home form work and said he has a Very Important Meeting on Saturday, the day after I come home from hospital). When I said I couldn't possibly cope with two DCs that soon, he offered to invite all his colleagues to have the 3 hour+ meeting at our house and I may have sworn a little bit. So I have had to phone my mum to come and babysit us all.

About to head off to a Scout committee meeting (why do I do this?)

Evening all. It is cold, it is wet and i am miserable. I had a fight in my classroom as a class were coming in today and had to call for SLT for the first time in years. Not a good day all in all.

On the positive, I am still on flying fire despite attempts to put me out.

Ta da this evening:-
Dinner cooked
Washing up
Washing on
Packed lunches made
Clothes laid out
Dc's homework/reading/spellings done
Sink shined
Downstair/bathroom quick maintenance tidy
Exam analysis finished
Lessons planned for tomorrow
Prepped for department meeting tomorrow.

toffee horrible histories is brilliant for the Tudors. On youtube there are some fab songs from there about Henry VIII. I always start that topic by placing it in modern day context. I get the lads to imagine they were 18, had more money than they knew what to do with, owned the biggest houses with ferraris and swimming pool. I then talk about Catherine of Aragon as the woman Henry should marry ( educated, posh, sensible, likes a cup of cocoa in front of corrie on a friday night) and compare to Anne Boleyn as a bit of a hottie who liked to party etc. you get the drift. Try and make it relevant to engage. So Henry asking the Pope for a divorce is like them asking their parents for the one thing they know their parents are against (playing xbox 24/7) and then going ahead and doing it anyway. Sorry shall stop going on now.

swan teaching source evaluation is as important as what actually happened these days. bitchy is right. The best way to do it is by explaining that historians are like detectives. The best lessons i have taught have all been when i use that enquiry approach. If he has to use sources to decide whether guy fawkes was framed ( used to do that exact lesson myself) best approach is to firstly take each source and think about what it tells you about Guy Fawkes' role. Come to a conclusion based on balance. Then look at origin? Can you trust it? Then rethink your answer based on that. Key question is what evidence do you have for each side of the argument.

Sorry for boring the rest of you. Went off on a historical tangent.
Going to bed now, wore myself out.

Rowing yes, it's me. I suspect the mouse is the handiwork of one of the cats. It's still at large :(. DBil has condemned the washing machine but has at least stopped the dripping. Looks like its been leaking for a good month so the dehumidifier is on full blast. The old washer is stood on chipboard that has swollen so it's wedged against the work surface. No idea how we are going to get it out!!!

So despite having done the hoovering and cleaning well earlier, I've spent the evening cooking for DBil and looking at new washing machines on the Internet, trying to work out:
a) what we can afford
b) whether to get a normal washer or a washer/dryer
c) whether it is possible to put a non-integrated washer in a kitchen with integrated appliances...

I wish DH was here!

And now I'm off to dig out my hairnet because tomorrow I have to go to a launderette to get a service wash sigh. I have NO idea about launderette etiquette. Or service washes.

Waves to all.

Got caught in a massive downpour on the school run and soaked to the skin, so lots of wet clothes, dripping umbrellas, puddles everywhere have put paid to flying today. I now also have an urgent book report to write, so will be doing mostly reading for the rest of the week...

(Continuing the Tudors tangent, Toffee/Ellie and anyone else who cares - I'm always amazed how long H VIII and K of A were actually married for - I'd always got the impression all his marriages were shortlived.)

Hope the washing machine situation can be sorted Trazzle.

[Hands round - lemsip and hot toddies - for all the sore throats]

Waves to all. Had a more productive day than anticipated - being drenched on school run throw me so set timer for five mins lots of times and tackled three problem areas. Our cats brought a baby mole home tonight. Need to integrate Swishing into routine and a fixed bedtime that is realistic

Good Lord! A baby MOLE! Suddenly my day isn't looking quite as bad! Though I'd bet that a mouse still moves quicker!

tazzletoes I think it probably does!

Had a mixed appointment at the hospital this afternoon. The good news is that I am free of pneumonia . The not-so-good news is that there is still a question mark over my blood-test results and other symptoms and whether it means I have something called vasculitis, which is an inflammation of the blood vessels. I have to wait for the blood test results (probably next week) and then the dr will reassess.

SC - the cyber tot of whisky did the trick, thanks. Had a swift and pleasant journey back home with a very friendly taxi driver. Good for you to start an art course. I nearly started one a few months ago, but chickened out at the last minute.

Swan - how did your meeting with the SENCO go this afternoon?

Ellie - oh, I wish I could teleport you down here for weekly History lessons. You have such good ideas. Your description of how to make Tudor history relevant to children is so clever and I will definitely try it with DS1. At the moment, whenever I try to talk about the Tudors, he rolls his eyes and says, "But we did all that at primary school!"

Bitchy - thanks too for your explanation of understanding and using history sources. That is definitely what would appeal to my son, if I can make it work. I did think of getting him to explore the princes in the tower mystery as if he was a detective.

It's funny because I spent so much of my time this summer reading Tudor history and thought it would be a doddle to teach because it's so full of amazing stories, but actually that is the subject I'm finding hardest to do with DS1.

rowing - thankfully, no mice here. Have had two very large house spiders in the bathroom over the last day though . DH has been very busy in his capacity as spider remover extraordinaire.

trazzle - to hear about your washing machine. Hope you manage to get a nice new one soon.

WhoKnows - good to see that your DH is preparing to support you so well after you return home . You only have one more day before going into hospital, is that right? I hope you will be able to chat online to us from your hospital bed.

lauren - hope you feel better soon and aren't sickening (far too many of us getting sick on this thread).

OK, I have to go to bed. Sorry to all I've missed out - MsO, madwoman, Kickboxer, Eyes and anyone else I've missed (apologies). Night all.

(Oh, and not a single mention of Flying in the above post. Sometimes I forget what this thread is meant to be about ).

I am impressed by the length of their marriage too, Blue. I often think how awful it must have been for the poor woman to be discarded like that after all those years together.